


Wonder of Lights

by msgilliana



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Canon Compliant, Gen, Post-Episode: s07e06 The Goldberg Variation, season 7
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:54:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28163517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/msgilliana/pseuds/msgilliana
Summary: Apart of The X-Files Secret Santa Exchange and 25 Days of Ficmas Day 18: Lights.
Relationships: Fox Mulder/Dana Scully
Comments: 4
Kudos: 36
Collections: X-Files Secret Santa Fanfic Exchange (2020), bisexualreina and msgilliana’s 25 days of ficmas





	Wonder of Lights

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Spookyfish](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spookyfish/gifts).



> Mulder is injured, and Scully takes care of him. Set in between “The Goldberg Variation” and “Orison.” For Caz. 
> 
> Caz, I had a lot of fun writing domestic Mulder and Scully! I’m not used to writing canon, so apologies for any mistakes! 
> 
> It’s still the 18th for me, but I’m also hella lazy and incorporated my 25 Days of Ficmas into this. I hope you like it, Caz! Please don’t hesitate to let me know how I did! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! 🎄❤️

Bright lights were the first to be registered as Mulder slowly opened his eyes. The next was the excruciating pain in his right leg. From what he could see, it was elevated on a pillow as he laid in the hospital bed. A figure moved beside him, now aware of his conscious state.

“Mulder.” 

He instantly perked up. He hadn’t expected to find Scully waiting, but he was grateful for her presence all the same.

“Scully…”

He tried to get up, but her small hand came to his chest, pushing him back down. 

“Slow your roll there, partner. You’re in rough shape. You’ll need to stay off your feet for a least a week.”

 _No_. There’s no way he was leaving the X-Files for a whole week! It took all of Scully’s upper body straight to keep Mulder from practically jumping out of bed.

“Scully, I can’t leave the X-Files for a _week_!” he exclaimed.

She just shook her head, internally laughing. “Well, if you hadn’t done something stupid to start with…” Scully left the sentence hanging, waiting to see if he could recall his absurd actions. 

Realizing his sudden moments sent shooting pain down his leg, he placed both hands on his calves, running them up and down the compressed fabric. 

“What exactly did I do?”

Scully took a deep breath in, preparing to relay the events of the past 24 hours. 

X

_“Scully, he went that way!” Mulder shouted as he ran through the woods._

_“Mulder, we don’t even know what we’re looking for!” Scully tried to yell over the pouring rain._

_“I told you! A caribou!”_

_“Mulder, there aren’t caribou in DC! The nearest herd is in Idaho!” Scully just wanted to be in her warm and comfortable bed, not freezing in the cold rain and seeing her breath as she shivered._

_“Exactly! If I can track it, I can pinpoint where it came from! It has to come from somewhere Scully! A caribou just doesn’t leave Canada or Idaho to come here of its own free will!”_

_Scully just stood there for a moment, processing what her partner was doing. As he disappeared into the woods, she decided she wasn’t going to let him do this alone. The wind howled and the rain fell hard as the barking of dogs in the distance overwhelmed her senses._

_She could not believe he took the word of teenagers that were no doubt some level of intoxicated over regional wildlife patterns. Wait, scratch that. Yes she could. He slapped an X on the case and woke her up at exactly half-past midnight that they were going caribou hunting. That didn’t stop her from wanting to scream to him, if he’d even listen, that in no way were a species native to Canada or a state thousands of miles away suddenly found to show up in the nation’s capital._ He’s believed even more unbelievable conspiracies _, she told herself. The fact did not make her feel better._

 _“Scully! Scully!” she could hear, followed a particularly loud_ crack _._

_“Mulder?!” She started to run, worrying about the state he could be in._

_She ran through the woods, carefully dodging leaves and debris along the way. Closer and closer, she could hear Mulder’s groans of pain. Finally spotting her partner laying on the leaf-covered forest floor, she ran faster as she went to check on him. Doing a quick glance, she noted his right ankle was obviously broken as it bent at an unpleasant angle._

_“Go, Scully!” Mulder moaned. “Find it!”_

_Rolling her eyes, she did as requested and continued searching the woods. It felt like ages, but had only been minutes when she saw the figure Mulder had seen._

_“You’ve got to be kidding me,” she muttered as she realized what Mulder had driven them out to the edge of the woods at one in the morning for._

_Slowly, she crept up on the creature, holding her hand out palm-up._

_“Hey,” she said quietly, startling it._

_“It’s okay, it’s okay. I won’t hurt you.” Scully tried to coax the figure to come toward her. “You’re safe.”_

_She didn’t have any food to prove she was a nice human, but hopefully she could get it to come to her. The creature whimpered, hesitantly walking toward her, stopping every few paces, encouraged again to come closer. Once it was within arm’s reach, it placed its large head in Scully’s palm and she scratched its ears and ran a hand up and down its back. The creature calmed, nudging its nose under Scully’s chin. Her heart ached, from longing for her beloved Queequeg, and also for her new four-legged friend, who was no doubt scared and cold._

_“Now, that’s not so bad, is it?” she asked sweetly as she checked the collar. “Abbie. It’s okay, Abbie. Let’s get you home.”_

_She took hold of the dog’s collar and led her to where Mulder was still laying, groaning in pain._

_“Sit,” Scully commanded._

_Luckily, Abbie knew what to do, and sat patiently as she checked Mulder over for other injuries._

_“You okay?” she asked as she got Mulder to lay flat on his back._

_“Not really,” he struggled to get out._

_She struggled, but she finally got Mulder to his feet. Placing one of his arms over her shoulder, she held one hand and placed her other arm around his waist._

_“Come on, girl!” Scully encouraged the dog._

_Abbie happily followed the two agents through the woods as they made the trek back to Mulder’s vehicle._

X

“A Great Dane?” Mulder asked in disbelief. 

“Trust me, I think I’d remember hauling your ass and the dog into the car.”

“But the antlers…”

“Dollar Tree has a wide selection that apparently fit dogs as well. It was tied on.”

“I can’t believe this.” 

A dog. He couldn’t go into work… for a _dog_. The universe was surely laughing at him now. 

“The good news is,” Scully interrupted, “is that there’s no internal bleeding or anything of concern other than your ankle. You should be discharged later today. I’ve already packed some of your stuff so you can stay at my place.”

“Thanks, Scully.”

“What I’m worried about now is your willingness to follow doctor’s orders.”

He couldn’t miss the twinkle in her eyes as she said the statement. 

“I can’t believe I got outsmarted by a dog. Really bruises a man’s ego.”

Scully ran a hand through his hair, massaging his scalp. He sighed at the contact, her smooth hands soothing him. “I’d rather your ego be bruised than your ankle,” she pointed out.

“Touché, Dr. Scully.” 

“She’s back with her family.”

He looked at her, puzzled. 

“The dog,” she clarified. “She’d been missing for almost a week when we found her. So, as idiotic as you were, Agent Mulder,” she teased, “you did some good today.”

“‘Tis the season of Christmas miracles.”

“Hmm.” 

She continued stroking his hair as he rambled on about not being able to work, but she knew he needed the break. If not for his sanity, then for hers. 

What was not surprising, Scully had quickly found out after the first few hospital visits of their partnership, was how comfortable Mulder was being waited on. He’d moan and groan about being stuck inside the four walls that always smelled like hand sanitizer, but she knew he secretly enjoyed not having to lift a finger. 

“So when can I leave?” he asked after Scully handed him his fourth water of the hour. 

“As soon as the doctor clears you.”

“Aww, can’t you be my doctor?”

She shook her head as she smirked. “As much trouble as it would save, doctors aren’t supposed to have friends and family as patients. At least ethical ones.”

“Which one am I?” Mulder asked playfully after taking a sip of the cool, clear liquid. 

Scully swatted his chest. “Mulder, shut up. You know you’re like family.”

“And here I thought you actually wanted to be my doctor.”

Both adults chuckled as she settled back into the chair next to his bed. 

“I only use that card in emergencies.”

Mulder opened his mouth to reply, but he was interrupted as an older woman in a white coat opened the door. 

“Okay, Mr. Mulder, everything looks good and you’re free to go after I sign some paperwork. I’ll give your girlfriend your instructions for once you’re home, and I hope for a speedy recovery.”

“I’m not-“

“Oh, she’s not-“

No sooner had the doctor given Scully the piece of paper detailing what she already knew, than they heard the door close roughly. They stayed silent, struggling to register what just happened, but Mulder finally spoke up.

“So… girlfriend, huh?”

“Mulder, shut up.”

X

After taking an embarrassingly long time getting up the stairs to Scully’s apartments, they finally managed to come face-to-face with her apartment door. While Mulder leaned his weight into her, she took out her keys and unlocked the door. 

Mulder noticed her apartment was more decorated than it had been the last time he had been there. The tree had been set up, for one. As he carefully sat down on the couch with her help, he looked at the colorful ornaments that adorned she had put up, chuckling softly at the step-stool in the corner as he picture a frustrated Scully not quite tall enough to reach the top of the tree. 

He looked around some more, stopping at the lone stocking that hung above the tv. Shaking away his melancholy thoughts, he was most surprised by the string lights she had set up along the entryway he somehow missed. Scully wasn’t a person to decorate with lights, at least he didn’t think so. She was more reserved, deciding to decorate with smaller figurines and trinkets over flashing lights and big cheesy signs that belonged on Hallmark. 

“I like the lights,” Mulder said as Scully handed him the remote and a hot beverage. 

“Oh, those?” Her head turned toward his line of sight. “I thought I’d go crazy this year. Unleash my wild side,” she joked, causing a laugh to escape him. “They even flash.”

“Who are you and what have you done with Scully?” Mulder asked jokingly.

She laughed as she made her way over to the living room.

“Seriously, I like it. Brightens up the place.”

She huffed as she sat down next to him. “Thanks.” 

Mulder shifted so he was in a lying position, his feet in Scully’s lap. One leg had a cast over it, and felt hard against her thighs. She cocked an eyebrow at him as he smiled innocently at her. 

As much as Scully put on her hard exterior, demanding respect from all who met her, Mulder loved when this side of Scully came out. The Scully who joked and teased and called him crazy (he knew she didn’t really mean it). The Scully who didn’t belittle him for injuring himself over a damn _dog_. She played along with his silliness, waiting on him like the great doctor she was. 

“You good, Mulder?” Scully asked as he channel-surfed. 

“Could be better,” he said truthfully, shrugging.

“It’s only a week, Mulder. After that, you are free to lug around a boot into work and complain about how it doesn’t hurt, but I know and you know you’re going to be masking the pain.”

_Damn. Nail, meet head. Pleasured to make your acquaintance._

“Geez, Scully, could you be a little less correct?”

“Just speaking from experience.”

“I’m still impressed with how you got a huge dog like that to suddenly become the most well-behaved dog ever.” It was true, he’d been questioning her skills ever since he learned that his hospital ride was shared with the large dog.

“I guess I have a gift,” she said nonchalantly. “Or maybe I’m just good with pets that don’t happen to have gills.”

“Are you doubting my dog-handling abilities?” he asked, pretending offense. 

“It was obvious you didn’t like Queequeg, Mulder,” she joked. 

“In my defense, he was a rat.”

“Don’t say that!” Scully laughed, playfully shoving him. “It wasn’t his fault.”

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry.” He sat up, scooting closer to her and enveloping her in a hug. 

“Thank you for taking care of me.”

“You’re more than welcome,” Scully said. 

“... Can you show me the lights?”

She chuckled, amazed at his childlike wonder for Christmas lights. As the lights flashed, so did his eyes, and Scully couldn’t help but smile. Maybe this week wouldn’t be so bad. Maybe, just maybe, he’d behave for the week and listen to her when she had his best interests at heart, speeding his recovery and getting him back to work sooner than later. 

‘Tis the season for Christmas miracles. 


End file.
